Callidior ceteris persecutor (Rufin. hist. 10,33): Giuliano e la questione ariana

This article proposes to examine in detail some of Julian’s criticism of Christianity. His hostility to the Galileans did not prevent him from becoming closely acquainted with the Christological debates of his day. He had a detailed knowledge of some heterodoxical doctrines (such as those of Aetius, Eunomius, Photinus). Some hints of the fourth century Christological debates can be found in the polemical sections of Julian's treatise Against the Galilaeans, where the emperor illustrates the contradictions Christian theologians incur when dealing with the «similarity» between the Father and the Son, or with Mary’s virginal motherhood, or with the controversial prologue of the Gospel of John. Other indirect allusions to Christian controversies can be found in Julian’s dogmatic hymns (especially in Julian’s Hymn to king Helios). In this article I argue that the Apostate chose to emphasize those traits of his Hellenism which would provide the best philosophical (Neoplatonic) response to the theological problems discussed by the Galilaeans of his age.